Agents of SHIELD: Knight of New York
by MarvelMatt
Summary: [2nd in the AoS: Knight Series] One-Shot. There is a diamond on display in New York City, and according to legend, it is capable of enhancing the powers of gifteds. SHIELD needs to ensure that it is secured. Enter Clint Barton, Avenger, agent, master assassin. Meanwhile Batman and Robin follow The Riddler's challenge to the city that never sleeps. But S-T-K permissions are granted.
1. Agents of SHIELD: Knight of New York

**Agents of SHIELD - Knight of New York**

* * *

**_THREE MONTHS AFTER THE FINAL SCENE OF 'KNIGHT BEGINS'_**

* * *

The black quinjet, or the 'Batwing' as they were now calling it (Dick had named it – again), came to a stop, hovering over one of the seemingly abandoned warehouses on the edge of central New York.

Punching in the security code, the roof retracted as the Batwing lowered itself onto the landing pad. The engines powered down and the systems switched off as the rear ramp lowered. Batman and Robin released their harnesses, before walking out, down the ramp and towards their small New York Batcave, or the Bat-Bunker as Dick had taken to calling it.

He really needed to stop letting him name things.

"So, just to clarify B, we're here to chase down a wackjob for Gordon and Dent?"

"Yes"

"Because he left a message, calling you out?"

"Yes"

"But not in Gotham?"

"No Robin. Reports suggest that he's responsible for several thefts, kidnapping and murders in Gotham, but we have nothing concrete, as you already know"

* * *

_They land silently on the rooftop of the GCPD, the donation from S.H.I.E.L.D. in between them, as Gordon and Dent are oblivious to their presence, both men looking towards the horizon, no doubt scanning for the two of them. He raps on the glass of the light twice with his knuckles, a small 'tap tap' grabbing both men's attention, causing them to turn while they try to hide their surprise._

_"__Nice"_

_"__A gift from S.H.I.E.L.D. - A way to call you if necessary", Gordon supplied unnecessarily._

_"__A Bat-Signal!" Robin adds, the smile audible in his voice. Batman refrains from sighing. He loves the boy dearly – Dick has truly become a son to him, but he seems to have an obsession with naming things._

_"__Well …" Dent seems able to feel his annoyance, "we have a message for you"_

_Gordon reaches into his pocket of his brown trench coat and produces a note, which he hands over to Batman, the bat symbol stamped on the centre of the envelope letting them all know the intended recipient. Opening the letter, he begins to read aloud._

**_'_****_Greetings &amp; Salutations Batman,_**

**_You may call me The Riddler, a truly intelligent opponent and your intellectual superior. I am destined to confound, confront and conquer you Dark Knight. I have planned the perfect heist across the continent. Stop me if you can._**

**_But, alas, not everyone is on par with my extraordinary standards, and such, I know you'll need all the help you can get, therefore I've decided to be kind enough that I'll leave you with a clue._**

**_¿The Riddler?_**

**_What's most alluring when it's lowest or highest; when it's in the air or in a hole; when it's served you, yet you can't touch it?_**

_"__Do you know what it means?" Gordon asked, looking between the two of them hopefully._

_The two share a look, in which Robin almost imperceptibly shakes his head. _

_"__Not yet. But we'll figure it out"_

_Gordon and Dent, turn to face each other in disappointment, by the time they look back, the duo has disappeared._

_"__I hate it when they do that"_

_"__You and me both"_

* * *

"So we're in New York because…?"

"The answer to the riddle is … an enchanting ace"

"Okay …" noticing the look he was receiving, he dropped his feet from where they were perched upon the workbench, where Batman was attempting to hack into someone's security mainframe.

Taking pity on the old man, he used his hips to push him sideways and took over the hacking attempt with much more success, bypassing several security firewalls in just a few minutes, as Batman continued with his mini briefing.

"There's a new diamond on display here in New York, at the charity auction for cancer research tonight. It's being hosted by Simon Stagg, a local pharmaceutical entrepreneur and CEO of Stagg Enterprises, the main item on display, is a diamond known as 'The Ace of Enchantment', that's The Riddler's target"

"So we're heading over to Stagg's mansion"

"His penthouse, yes. We have to prevent that theft and apprehend The Riddler"

"Roger that. Ready to move out"

* * *

_"__Agent Barton, please report for briefing immediately"_

The communicator in his ear died out, and he sighed. Dropping down from his perch atop the sniper's platform inside of the Helicarrier's range room, he waved a brief goodbye to Bobbi as he passed her, while she was in the midst of demolishing her hard-light construct opponents with her twin batons, he headed for the main briefing room, not stopping to knock and took his usual seat across from Commander Hill.

"Ma'am"

"Agent Barton. Here", she slid him over a basic manila folder, which upon a cursory glance, revealed that the folder contained several documents relating to businessman Simon Stagg and the diamond he was showcasing inside of his New York penthouse apartment the 'Ace of Enchantment'. He'd been making media headlines all week.

He'd then made more when he'd publicly stated that Tony Stark wasn't invited.

_Guess not everyone loves themselves a superhero._

_Or maybe it's just Stark he can't stand – not many of us can._

"The mission?"

"Protect that diamond, our sources tell us a threat has been made against it"

His eyebrows aimed attempted to move into his hair, "We're protecting jewellery now? Why can't a rookie handle this?"

She levelled him with 'the look', the same look that kept Tony Stark silent whenever she was in the room.

"This particular gem is supposed to have several properties that make it unique for various 'gifteds', and regardless, you've been handed this assignment based on your skillset. Don't get into the habit of thinking I don't know what my agents are capable of, or that I'm not certain that particular agents are needed"

Feeling suitably chastised, like a small child that had been sent to the principal's office, he stood up to leave, taking the folder with him when she called him back, "and Agent Barton…"

"Yes Ma'am?"

"We've received word that targets DC-52/B and DC-52/R are possibly in the area. This is unconfirmed, but nonetheless, exercise extreme caution"

"Plan X?"

She rubbed a hand against her forehead, the gesture making her look much older than her thirty four years, "Shoot to kill permissions granted, but only if necessary. Coulson met him on assignment recently. He believes he can be trusted. I'm not convinced. Neither is Fury"

_Coulson thinks everyone can be trusted … just look at his old team._

"Understood Ma'am"

* * *

"This guy cleans up nice"

"Robin focus. We're here to protect the diamond, not as the fashion brigade. We'll leave that until we have to face 'The Tailor'"

Robin lets out his signature cackle, "Was that a joke? Aww, I'm finally rubbing off on you, maybe you'll lighten up a bit more at home too"

"What's wrong with me at home?"

"I meant Gotham, in general. Batman's far too broody"

"I'm supposed to intimidate the night life, not play nice with them"

"Yeah, but you don't have to constantly intimidate Gordon and Dent, or-"

Robin was cut off by screams from the party below, the lights had gone out. The duo activated their extra vision lenses, which caused the white lenses to drop over their eyes, activating night vision for Batman and thermal vision for Robin.

Independently the two scanned the room for any sign of the thief.

"Robin! The skylight!"

Robin's vision flicked upwards, a lone heat signature was climbing out of the skylight in the darkness. The white lenses slid up on both masks. The sound of two grapnels rang out, and the duo flew off, down towards the intruder.

They dropped down to see a lone man with a bow, sealing the skylight behind him, their landing caused him to look up, and he immediately notched an arrow in their direction.

Batman stepped protectively in front of Robin, half covering him with his cape, before speaking, hiding the surprise he was feeling, he kept his tone perfectly even as he addressed the man in front of him, "Agent Barton"

"I'm on the job. I go by Hawkeye, if you don't mind. My secret ID's kinda important to me you know? Protection of the family 'n' all that jazz"

"Theft is a mission? Just how far has S.H.I.E.L.D. fallen?"

"Theft?"

"The Ace of Enchantment. It's just been stolen and yet you're here. I wasn't aware S.H.I.E.L.D. had branched into jewellery"

"I didn't steal it"

"Then who did?"

"I was told that Batman and Robin were in New York. We assumed you were here to steal it"

"HEY! We don't steal!" Robin was yelling at Hawkeye, over the shoulder of Batman.

At Robin's outburst, Hawkeye took the opportunity the distraction gave him. He let his arrow fly loose, aimed straight for Batman's throat. A batarang flew through the air, colliding with the arrow mid-flight, knocking the arrow off course, as Robin's Zip-Kick attached itself to the bow.

Hawkeye saw a flash of red and black, before he felt something collide with him, and he found himself lying on the floor, with Robin stood above him, holding his bow like it was a Bo staff. He couldn't help but chuckle at that.

_Disarmed by a kid! _

_Kid's got moves though, makes me wonder how good the bat is._

"Nice moves kid"

"The name is Robin, if you don't mind"

Another chuckle, _the kid's got balls too._

_I wonder if he wants a job?_

_I wonder if they'll let me get a mini-me? Ooh ooh, I want a hawk-boy! Hawkling? The Chick? Eh, I'll figure a name out later._

"We're not your enemy Hawkeye, we're after the Riddler"

_Trust daddy-bats to spoil the fun._

"The what now?"

"The Riddler", Batman cut straight to the point, much like Fury, Coulson and Hill did when briefing him, "he left us a message, challenging The Batman to try and stop him by leaving clues at the GCPD. It led us to the diamond that was just stolen"

He nods his understanding, before throwing in his two cents, "S.H.I.E.L.D. just sent me in mostly blind, but I have to recover that diamond"

Robin turns to look towards his mentor, who nods his head minutely. He can feel the tension in the air, and is surprised when the kid offers him his bow back, and then offers him a hand, helping to pull him to his feet.

"Truce?"

"Truce. Though I should say that I have the kill order on you"

"Why?"

"There's reports that you've been killing in Gotham and-"

"Never", he was up to full Bat-Growl now, "I don't kill. And if we're going to work together there will be no kill shots from you"

_Damn that's fucking terrifying!_

_Okay, okay, calm face Barton, calm face._

* * *

_What the fuck would happen if I introduced him to Natasha?_

_Now THAT would really be terrifying._

"Fine. Where do we go know?"

_"__I'm glad one of you finally asked my dear deluded friends. Decipher this deceivingly difficult direction and you may be able to stop me yet, for I am … The Riddler"_

The three of them moved into alert positions. Hawkeye notched an arrow as he began scanning the nearby rooftops. The boy – Robin – had slipped two escrima sticks into his hand, reminding him briefly of Bobbi, and the big bad Bat seemed to have had three shuriken appear in each of his hands. The noise of an intercom held The Riddler's voice had him and Robin spinning around, still searching while Batman remained still, unflinching as his voice continued to come through.

"Where are you? Show yourself!" Hawkeye was skimming his eyes around them, searching for the Riddler.

_"__Oh I'm not there Mr. Avenger, but you'll have to come seek me from my hiding place"_

Then it hit him.

He'd hacked their comms systems. Batman wasn't moving because he's already figured it out. Whoever this guy was, he could hack S.H.I.E.L.D., and that meant he was good.

"What's the clue Riddler?"

_"__Ah, straight to the point my brazen bat, well then, let's whet your appetite, 'I know not from whom the bell tolls, but it tolls for she', bye-bye for now Batman"_

* * *

"You two are sure about this?" Hawkeye asks, the uncertainty clear in his voice, "I mean, definitely sure?"

"Yes"

He cocked his eyebrows and shot the kid a dry look, indicating the bat, "He's not really much of a conversationalist is he?"

The boy just giggled, a stark contrast to his mentor's brooding, "You should really see him at parties, that's when he really lets his cowl down"

Batman just turned to glare at the two of them, who both fell into fits of laughter at his irritated expression, and Hawkeye slung his arm around Robin's shoulders in a one armed hug.

"You know what kid, I like you … say if you ever-"

"We're here"

The quinjet that Hawkeye brought lands on the edge of Liberty Island, cloaked and almost silently as they touch ground. Then before he can ask more questions, one thought finally hits him.

_Where'd the bat learn to fly a quinjet? Only S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents know how …_

_And HYDRA Agents too…_

"Alright … just … just run me through this one more time"

Batman just sighed, as Robin launched into an explanation.

"It was a Shakespearian quote, 'for whom the bell tomes', which is obviously referencing a bell, but he changed the last word from 'thee' to 'she', so so far we have a woman and a bell. There was an article on the news about the liberty bell recently and trivia seems like this guy's thing, so now we have liberty bell, and a lady, so lady liberty and thus we end up with the Statue of Liberty", he finished his explanation with a flourish to the giant statue behind him, a smirk lighting up his features.

"That's quite a stretch"

"Trust Robin. He knows what he's doing"

He brushed indignantly, "I am trusting him", before dropped his voiced and muttered, "I just wish we knew what we were walking into"

* * *

Entering the visitor's entrance to the Statue of Liberty, ignoring the metal detector alarms they sot off, _Riddler already knows we're here,_ Batman and Hawkeye went immediately into threat scanning mode, searching the area for any and all intruders (other than themselves) and potential threats that may be lurking in the shadows. Robin was just looking up like a tourist, content to trust the two master combatants to notice any potential threat.

"Robin! Get your head in the game!"

_Spoilsport._

His attention snapped up to his mentor, as he crumpled to the floor, followed swiftly by Hawkeye, one hand on his quiver. He felt a small sting below his jaw, before he felt the cold sensation of the floor and his jaw meeting, and then nothing.

* * *

Blinking rapidly, to shake the drowsiness from his eyes, he snapped them open, inhaled deeply and took note of his surroundings. They were strapped onto medical gurneys. Hawkeye's bow and quiver were missing, but the protections on his cowl, Robin's mask and their utility belts apparently worked, as they were still wearing them.

_Typical Avenger mentality – too cocky to ensure adequate protection on his equipment._

_Well he won't make that mistake again._

_Or he will and then he'll die._

Flicking the small knife from the holding place in his gauntlet, taking care not to dislodge his hidden lock pick, he cut the strap holding his chest to the bed, before releasing his legs and swinging them to the side. He then moved to release Robin, before reaching Hawkeye, both of them having awoken while he was releasing himself.

He noted Robin checking over his equipment and felt a brief surge of pride that his lessons had paid off well.

"Here", he said, handing Hawkeye several of his batarangs, noticing Robin reaching for several of his shuriken to do the same.

"Thanks", he muttered back, testing the weight of his new weapons, by balancing them in his palm, before securing them in his harness, the red and black metal standing out against the purple of his uniform.

Wordlessly, Robin picked the lock on the door to their cell, before grapping up to the air duct, the two adult heroes' right behind him, and the three of them crawled off in search of The Riddler.

* * *

They find him easily enough.

Sneaking through the air vents, they slipped out when they reached the only possible exit. Dropping eight feet from the exit to the floor, they landed in what seemed to be a large engine room, with boiler apparatus hanging above them. This wasn't the Statue of Liberty.

_It looks like the hull of a ship … so where are we?_

Lights blared to life, temporarily blinding the trio, as their eyes adjusted, they opened them to see the Riddler stood on a platform above them. It was clear he was the Riddler by the pale green suit covered in small pale gold question marks, a large one outlined in black on the back. He also wore a pale grey bowler hat with a purple strip running along it, a white shirt and a light purple tie with a golden question mark tie clip. He was perfectly groomed, not one hair out of place, and his face was clean shaven to perfection. He carried a long golden cane, tipped to look like a question mark, as he spoke, the trio recognised his shrill voice.

"My, my, aren't we quite the troublemakers", his eyes swept over the three of them, before stopping on Batman, and remaining there, "I honestly thought you'd never get this far, I long expected to watch as your particular brand of cluelessness led you in the wrong direction, alas it appears I have underestimated you, now", he cleared his throat and flashed them a blinding smile, "GET THEM!"

The several dozen enforcers that had attempted to remain hidden, not that they hadn't all been spotted, dropped from the balconies above them, encircling them, roughly thirty combatants in all, the trio moved so that they were standing back to back, and wasting no time, Batman launched his first batarang, the other two following his lead.

They were ruthless in their attack. Punches broke jaws, elbows shattered collar bones, snap kicks blew out knees and shattered shins. Batarangs and shuriken left them unconscious with concussions.

Robin cackled as he brought his elbow down against someone's collar bone, for their sakes, he hoped there was a hospital nearby.

Ducking under a wild right swing, Hawkeye drove his knee into an attacker's solar plexus, while launching a batarang at one thug that had snuck around Robin. It connected with the back of his skull as Robin swept his legs out from under him.

The two shared a grin before Robin aimed a shuriken at the thug that had managed to sneak up behind Hawkeye. Shrugging apologetically, and still grinning, they turned back to their individual fights.

There was barking as someone had brought a pair of Rottweiler dogs with them, and Batman moved to intercept them as they lunged for his partner. Growling in pain as one of them sank its teeth into his forearm, he threw it into the wall, before sending its partner to join it.

Whimpering, the two mutts ran off with their tails tucked between their legs.

The Riddler watched on in frustration, as his carefully constructed plan fell to pieces, and he chose his moment.

_This fowl archer Avenger wasn't part of MY plan._

As Robin drove his knee into the last thug's ribs, he flicked the switch on top of his cane and slid out through the emergency door behind him as Batman grappled up to his location.

Riddler slipped through the sole door connecting the platform to the outside, slamming it shut with the buzz if an electromagnetic lock sealing the door shut behind him.

The hiss of a grapnel alerted him to Robin's appearance behind him, and a brief glance backwards informed him that Hawkeye had joined them, clinging to Robin's neck. The Avenger joined him as they both pulled at the door, but the lock was too strong to budge. Even a dose of Robin's explosive gel did little more that leave burn marks.

They were getting ready to try a combination of explosive gel and explosive batarangs when they heard the hum of machinery and gas started to file in from the air vents. They renewed their efforts at the door, scratching and clawing for their escape before the gas could reach them.

They inhaled deeply in an attempt to stave off the gas, while attempting to force the door open.

Robin's size proved to be a disadvantage as his smaller lung capacity caused him to lose his breath quicker. He collapsed to the floor, but Batman didn't waver when his partner fell, he just renewed his efforts, pushing harder to escape.

Hawkeye collapsed a minute later, his hands scratching against the door as he fell, still attempting to force their way out, and leaving Batman the sole stander.

It didn't take much longer for the effects to reach him. Dragging the archer and his protégé away from the doors, he fought against the dizziness as black spots appeared in his vision, and detonated the explosives.

The force of the explosion knocked the air out of him and his body inhaled on reflex. The black spots in his vision took over as he felt sleep claim him.

_At least the gas isn't poisonous._

* * *

The trio awoke several hours later, the small HUD provided by their enhanced vision lenses in his cowls told him that it was nearing five o'clock in the following morning. Shaking his partner and the Avenger awake, he sat back on his haunches as they stirred, gently cajoling them into alertness.

Taking a look at their surroundings, he noticed that his explosive combination had blown the door clear, the smell of sea air hitting his nostrils. He was also unsurprised to find that all of the thugs they'd left unconscious had disappeared.

Helping his partner to stand, he took Robin's weight as they moved to the hole in the wall, which used to be a door.

_I really hope this boat's owned by Riddler, and not somebody's private property._

It opened up to find that they were moored at the edge of Liberty Island, the name on the side read 'The Answer'. Hawkeye's bow and quiver were just hanging next to the door, along with a box containing the Enchanting Ace diamond, and a note, made and sealed with the same materials as the one the GCPD had received. Reaching out, Batman ripped the letter open to reveal its contents.

**_Dear Batman and Company,_**

**_This was fun, and we WILL do it again, but until next time please keep this diamond as a token of your complete failure._**

**_-?_**

He was mocking them, even the name of the ship was an attempt to insult them. One last riddle to leave them angry and throw them off.

_Where am I?_

* * *

Spotting their quinjet parked below them, they dropped from the boat on their grapnels (Hawkeye on a grappling arrow), and silently headed back over the water, Hawkeye radioing in for a S.H.I.E.L.D. team to search the area for the knocked out goons that were on the ship. Chances were that The Riddler had abandoned his men. Not many bosses would risk getting caught over hired hands.

They loaded themselves into the S.H.I.E.L.D. quinjet and headed back in towards the city, noting the three quinjets that were headed for the island.

He dropped Batman and Robin off at the edge of the city, stepping out with them to say goodbye, when he surprised them both, by offering his hand.

"I'll also see about getting the … err … the kill order dropped from you both", he said, while shaking their hands, the small smile gracing his features, while he scratched the back of his head.

"Stay safe Bird-Man"

"You too little bird. You know, if you want, I could teach you-"

"Agent Barton stop trying to steal my son"

He shrugged apologetically, "Batman", the two shook hands as he took in the vigilante's features again. The facial structure seemed similar, almost like he'd seen that jawline before. They released hands, as he looked towards the skyline. The large tower with the shining 'A' standing out.

_We are trying to recruit new members. Expert marksman, non-lethal weaponry, an arsenal to rival Stark's, clear training in enhanced interrogation and intimidation techniques, clear proficiency in quinjet flight and probably driving. _

_His combat might even give Nat a run for her money._

_And he has a protégé, already training to become the next generation of heroes. The Avengers could definitely use both of them. _

_It's Saturday, which means Cap's probably making pancakes for breakfast. Bats doesn't seem too social, but if I can convince the kid to come …_

He turned around, the invite for breakfast ln his lips when he realised the problem.

The Dynamic Duo had disappeared.

"Huh", he scanned around him, only to find nothing, "so they really can do that"

* * *

They were back in the Batwing, mid-flight back to Gotham when he sent off a quick message to Fitz, enquiring about an arrival date for the upgrade to their suits, lately it seemed the engineer had nothing but free time, as he was constantly sending them designs and specs for them to build. The explosive gel was apparently a Fitzsimmons design that had been rejected for use in the field.

Well, if S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't want it, then Batman and Robin were only too happy to 'borrow' the blueprints. Apparently they'd been trying to design upgrades for the Batmobile, but he'd refused to let them see the specs.

_No one_ touches the Batmobile.

He was honestly impressed that Robin taken as long to ask the question he'd been dying to ask for over a week.

It had only taken him two days to reach a verdict, he just liked watching the boy sweat over it, as he attempted to bend over backwards trying to keep him in a good mood.

It was time to put him out of his misery.

"So … _Dad_", he emphasised the word in an attempt to further placate him, "have you made a decision yet?"

"Dick…"

"I know, I know that Jason's a bit of a rough case, I know that, but we could help him the way you helped me, I mean … his dad was Joseph Todd, and he was an enforcer for Falcone, but he got himself killed and his mom, Trina, she just left him at the orphanage, before skipping town, and…"

"Dick! I've already made a decision!"

"Oh … sorry then I just …"

"WHEN we get back to Gotham, Gordon has already agreed to help me sort through the adoption papers, and with the size improvements to the house, courtesy of S.H.I.E.L.D. funding, thank you Coulson. We will be able to have him come live with us"

"So…"

"Yes, I'm adopting Jason Todd"

They sit there for several minutes in contentment, before he pipes up, "Dad?"

"Yes Dick"

"Thank you"

"Anytime son, anytime … and Dick?"

"Yeah old timer?"

"He's not becoming Robin 2.0"

* * *

**Author's Note**

As always guys, leave me a review, come on, you know you want to - it'll make me feel better.

-MarvelMatt


	2. Sequel Announcement

Okay, so that was story #2 in the series.

Story #3 is coming soon, titled Knight of Vengeance.

There's some preliminary thoughts being put towards #4, which will be another one-shot or a short story, and I'm thinking that Iron Man will be the next 'guest' star.

I anyone wants to discuss/offer any suggestions for future storylines, then please PM me, or leave it in a review.

And as always, please leave a review.

-MarvelMatt


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